Simple Worlds
by Shimegami
Summary: All great things had to have started somewhere. The beginning days of the Enjaku Detective Agency, as Loki learns to deal with being a human child and an assistant who's cold-blooded, mail-order obsessed and periodically sheds.


Simple Worlds By: Shimegami Warnings: fluff Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue. AN: All great things had to start somewhere. The beginning days of the Enjaku Detective Agency, as Loki learns to deal with being a human child and an assistant who's cold-blooded, mail-order obsessed, and who periodically sheds. New obsessions are great, aren't they? drools over xxxHolic manga   
  
Chapter One: Move to Japan  
  
All in all, Loki was not pleased.  
  
Not only had he been exiled from Asgard and turned into a human child with severely weakened powers, he now had to decide where in bloody Midgard he was going to set up operations.  
  
He was perched on the top of a skyscraper, in some part of the New York skyline. Translocation was wonderful. He held a map in his hands that graciously mapped out the places where evil spirits dwelled. This city was a possibility, he mused, as it was large, busy, and populated by a large number of evil spirits. However, it was a little too close to Midgard's connection to the other worlds[1], and it was lacking in the quiet surburban areas he preferred to make base in. Not to mention the United States was a lot of ground to cover.  
  
He wanted something really different from the strong Germanic roots that prevaded most of Europe and the United States. Preferably non-English speaking. With days of the week not named after powerful gods trying to kill him[2].  
  
He scanned over the map, eyes resting on Africa before discarding it due to the lack of evil spirits. That left Asia, then, and Loki scanned over the availible countries. China, of course, was the obvious first choice, but he frowned at it. It was too large like the U.S., and so heavily populated with both humans and spirits that it would take lifetimes to exorcise them. While Loki had said lifetimes, he would prefer to return to Asgard sometime this century, thank you.  
  
He wobbled dangerously on the edge, and he was reminded of his other little problem. He was running low on strength, and this body hadn't eaten for a while. Which led to another dilemma-he had no human money, at least not yet. Odin Allfather hated him, yes, but had realised that to operate in such a form in Midgard would require human money. And so, he had promised Loki a human bank account with a sizable sum of money in it.  
  
As soon as he established a base of operations.  
  
Loki swore in multiple languages. He was wasting strength trying to decide on a location, but he couldn't rest because to be able to rest required a safe place and plenty of human food, which was out of reach until he did decide on a location.  
  
Closing his eyes, Loki merely muttered "Aw, screw it" and jabbed his finger at the map, letting his power of chaos decide for him. He opened his eyes and looked for where his finger had landed.  
  
His finger rested lightly on an island off the coast of the Asian mainland.  
  
Japan.  
  
-----------------  
  
Translocating to Japan had been exhausting, but Loki plowed on. He had gone to Tokyo, which had a large population both ways, and had scoured it's neighboring districts for a suitable site for his base.  
  
He found an empty lot in a fairly nice neighborhood, not too far from a more urban setting. He called on the reserves he had placed aside especially for this purpose, and in seconds an old-fashioned Western-style house stood like it had always been there. Ever since his sentencing, he had been setting aside small amounts of magic, all for the explicit purpose of summoning a house suitable for his needs. It wasn't very dramatic, but Loki didn't much care at that point.  
  
Totally drained, Loki stumbled into his new home, completely bare of furnishings, and curled up in a corner to sleep the night away.  
  
------------------  
  
He awoke with the sun in his eyes, a crick in practically every part of his body, and a deep vow to set Fenrir on Odin at the next availible oppurtunity.  
  
Squinting against the sunshine, Loki noticed something small and white lying on the floor not too far from him. Groaning, he stretched out a hand and dragged the object towards him. He was really too old for this, he mused, never mind the fact that his current body was less than ten years of age.  
  
The white object turned out to be a letter from Asgard. The bank account had been opened as promised, but apparently the Norns were in on this somehow, as the letter described in painfully cheerful language that he was going to need someone of mortal adult standards to use it for him. Apparently mortals had odd standards about maturity, believing that physical age determined the ability of the mind.  
  
Loki sighed. It was going to be a long day.  
  
------------------  
  
Once again on a rooftop, Loki stood with his eyes closed, searching for a long-unheard but very familiar magical signature. His sleep had boosted his magical reserves enough so that he felt he could try what he had in mind.  
  
He needed an assistant, anyway. Someone very methodical and meticulous in their thought processes, with a lot of patience and a willingness to stay with Loki. Someone in a situation that if promised release if they wished to work, they would take it without question.  
  
It had been a long time. A very long time. But Loki knew just the person.  
  
Or rather, snake.  
  
-------------------  
  
Hovering over the waves of the Pacific Ocean, Loki continued scanning the depths below for Midgardsorm. For a giant snake wrapped around the world, it was certainly difficult to find.  
  
While Loki hadn't done anything to stop his children's horrible fates, it didn't mean he was happy with their situations. Irrational fear was hard enough to stop in one mortal, and when it possessed an entire courts of gods, Loki had to give way. He allowed Midgardsorm to be thrown to the bottom of the ocean, and he allowed Fenrir to be chained to the isle of Lyngvi, and he allowed Hel to be made the goddess of the underworld. Because the gods did not tolerate anything that they feared, and the other option had been death. And the end of the world.  
  
Something whispered at his senses. A scantly remembered voice seemed to drift with the waves.  
  
_"It is so dark and cold, it makes me very lonely..."  
_  
Loki smiled and plunged into the depths to revel the gigantic coiled form of his serpentine son, the Midgardsorm. The snake that held the world in its coils.  
  
It opened eyes larger than his head to regard him.  
  
It stared at him for a long time. Then came a tentative...  
  
"Father?"  
  
Loki gave the snake a winning grin. "I've come to retrieve you, in return for your service."  
  
Midgardsorm raised his head, somehow conveying amazement on its reptillian face.  
  
"I will do anything if you really intend to free me from these waters."  
  
Loki's grin was replaced by a solemn stare. "Yes, I fully intend to free you, so long as you agree to don another form."  
  
"Anything." The snake replied. "I will do anything."  
  
"Good."  
  
The waters began to swirl as Loki charged his power.  
  
"Now I'll put a spell on you--"  
  
The serpent watched as the now-dimunitive trickster god hovered over him in the waters.  
  
"--and you'll go on a journey with me."  
  
Tsuzuku  
  
AN: .;; I haven't seen much of Loki, but I still wanted to write about it. So I chose a subject that wouldn't require much knowledge of the later part of the series (I hope). If the beginnings of the detective agency have been further discussed in the manga/anime, I don't know about it, so if I make any mistakes, sorry. Feel free to correct me on anything. xx;;

[1] Geographically, New York is much closer to Europe than Tokyo. Since the Norse religion spread from there, I'm piddling and saying that the barriers between the worlds are much more thinner there. A portal, if you wish.

[2] "Wednesday" comes from centuries of modification to "Wodin's Day". Wodin is another spelling of "Odin". This also applies to "Thursday" ("Thor's Day") and "Friday" ("Freyr's Day"). The other days of the week come from different origins.


End file.
